The 2022 Ontario general election will be held on June 2, 2022, to elect Members of the Provincial Parliament to serve in the 43rd Parliament of Ontario. As of December 2016, Ontario elections are held on the first Thursday in June in the fourth calendar year following the previous general election.
Expectedly, the polity has been heated up, with the various political parties going head-to-head to scoop the available positions. While the destinies of these parties are in the hands of eligible voters, the parties have been reeling out various policies and promise to woo the electorates.
As it is the culture all over the world, the various parties have been intentionally going all out to convince electorates into believing that their candidates are the best to rule over the affairs of the province.
As part of efforts to help electorates make informed voting decisions, we bring you an overview of some promises of some parties.
PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE
In the area of affordability, the PC promises to include legislation that would speed up approvals for all types of housing, increase capacity at the Ontario Land Tribunal and Landlord and Tenant Board to resolve cases faster, and temporarily cut the gas and fuel taxes beginning July 1, changes to the Low‐income Individuals and Families Tax (LIFT) Credit (see Taxes section), the implementation of an average of $10-a-day child care in Ontario by September 2025, extending the Ontario Community Support program in 2022-23 which delivers means, medicine, and other items to low-income seniors and individuals with disabilities.
The Party promised to increase the housing supply by reducing “red tape” and making it “easier” to build housing. On child care, it said an average of $10-a-day child care will be achieved in Ontario by September 2025, with fees being reduced over time up until then (including retroactive rebates).
The PC budget outlined new tax breaks for low-income workers and for seniors to help them age at home. It proposes changes to the Low-income Individuals and Families (LIFT) Credit and creating an Ontario Seniors Care at Home Tax Credit, both taking effect this year.
On how it will tackle the ravaging COVID-19, it detailed plans for investments in hospitals, long-term care, home care, and plans to build the province’s health-care workforce and build domestic production of PPE and vaccines.
In the area of health care, the PC budget said hospital infrastructure projects would receive more than $40 billion over the next decade, including about $27 billion in capital funding.
On transportation, the PC budget included plans for spending $25.1 billion over 10 years for highway projects, including Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass, widening Highway 401 east from Pickering, and improving the QEW Skyway.
In the area of Education, they promised to commit $21 billion, including $14 billion in capital grants, over the next 10 years for the renewal and expansion of school infrastructure and child-care projects. The PCs said they are also launching a pilot project collaborating with school boards to use rapid, modular build methods. The PCs said $6 billion would also be provided for the post-secondary education sector including more than $2 billion in capital grants over 10 years to help modernize classrooms, carry out repairs, and improve environmental sustainability
LIBERAL
On affordability, the party promised to give “people a break on costs.” The party promised to remove the provincial portion of the HST on prepared meals under $20, and help pay for it by implementing a 1 per cent surtax on corporate profit above $1 billion and increasing taxes on individual incomes above $500,000 (see Taxes section). Also, they pledged to increase the minimum wage to $16 per hour beginning Jan. 1, 2023 and “develop a living wage structure” that “factors different wage rates in different regions of the province.” They promised to repeal Bill 124.
The Ontario Liberals promised to build “at least” 1.5 million new homes over 10 years. In its child care plan, Liberals pledged to implement universal $10-a-day child care and make discounts retroactive, giving parents $2,750 per child. The party said it would implement $10 a day before and after school care by September, create 30,000 new jobs for early childhood educators and other child-care staff, provide free tuition for all ECE programs at Ontario colleges, and enhance pay and benefits for ECEs.
The Party said they would eliminate corporate taxes on small businesses hard hit by the pandemic for two years. It would be scaled to losses in revenue and eliminated entirely for businesses that lost more than 50 per cent of revenue.
The party pledged to add the COVID vaccine to the list of required vaccines for schools, require vaccinations for front-line education and health workers, ensure broad access to antiviral treatments, require that businesses treat COVID outbreaks as occupational health issues, and “support businesses that opt to check for vaccination status.” In the area of health care, the party promised to hire 100,000 new nurses, doctors and other healthcare workers, hire internally-trained health workers, train 3,000 new mental health and addictions professionals, add more nursing and medical school spaces and cover tuition costs for medical students working in rural or remote communities.
The Liberals promised to cut the cost of public transit fares to $1 per ride and offer $40 monthly passes until January 2024. The party said it would also work to integrate fates between services in the GTHA “ensuring everyone pays less than they do today.” Public transit would be free for all veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces under the Liberal plan.
The Liberals promised to hire 10,000 more teachers and cap class sizes at 20 students for all grades. The party said it would reinstate an optional Grade 13 and offer classes on mental health, taxes, and financial literacy, among other topics.
NEW DEMOCRATIC
The NDP promised to make life more affordable by ending exclusionary zoning, introducing annual speculation and vacancy tax on residential property, bringing back rent control, creating a portable housing benefit, and ensuring tenants and landlords can get “prompt and fair” hearings before the Landlord and Tenant Board.
On housing, it promised to end exclusionary zoning — rules that disallow different types of housing construction — and “encourage responsible development.”
The Liberals pledged to implement universal $10-a-day child care and make discounts retroactive, giving parents $2,750 per child. The party said it would implement $10 a day before and after school care by September, create 30,000 new jobs for early childhood educators and other child-care staff, provide free tuition for all ECE programs at Ontario colleges, and enhance pay and benefits for ECEs.
The NDP said it would freeze taxes for low- and middle-income families while ensuring that “the wealthiest Ontarians and big corporations pay their fair share.”The party said it would introduce annual speculation and vacancy tax on residential properties, modelled off of British Columbia, applying to all speculators who own houses they don’t live in at a rate of two per cent of the assessed value. The NDP said it would maintain the non-resident speculation tax at 20 per cent and “close loopholes.”
It promised to hold a public inquiry into the province’s COVID-19 response and introduce a “new” Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act and other legislation to “strengthen” the ability to respond to a crisis. New Democrats pledged to implement universal, publicly funded mental health care, reduce the wait time for children’s mental health to 30 days, commit $10 million more to mobile crisis services and $7 million more for safe beds programs to support mobile crisis teams.
Plans for transit in the NDP platform include restoring provincial funding for municipal transit and paratransit systems to 50 per cent of their net operating costs and implementing more fare integration along with a two-hour flat rate fare across municipal transit in the GTHA.
Hiring 20,000 teachers and education workers, more custodians and maintenance staff, more mental health workers, repealing Bill 124, and working to end violence against education workers are among the promises in the NDP on Education.
GREEN
The Greens said they would include mental health care under OHIP, increase funding for home care services, and create incentives for retrofitting homes to make them easier to age in place. The party said it would increase the minimum wage to $16 this year and have it increase annually by $1, with a top-up in cities where the cost of living is higher. Repealing Bill 124 and “problematic sections” of Bill 106 is also in the Green platform. They promised to establish a $25 hourly base pay for PSWs.
The Green Party said it would build 182,000 new “permanently affordable” rental homes over 10 years, with 60,000 of those supportive homes. The party said it would also introduce rules that ensure 20 per cent of units in all housing projects above “a certain size” are affordable. The Greens said they would renew 260,000 community housing projects.
The Greens said they would work with the feds to ensure continued access to $10-a-day child care in all communities and provide early childhood educators with a wage of at least $25 per hour.
The Party said it would implement a “multiple property speculation tax” on people and corporations that own more than two houses or condos in Ontario, with the tax beginning at 20 per cent on the third property and increasing with each additional property owned. The party said it would also work to implement a provincewide vacant homes tax and implement an anti-flipping tax.
It pledged to hold an independent public inquiry into Ontario’s COVID-19 response that would provide recommendations on responses to future crises.
It revealed plans to move towards “low-carbon transportation,” including electric vehicles, bikes and walking. It identified regional public transit as a key part of their agenda.
Also, the party said it would hold an independent review of Ontario’s education funding formula to ensure it “adequately reflects student needs” and review the formula every five years.
SUPPORT NIGERIAN CANADIAN NEWS
If you like our work and want to keep enjoying what we offer, kindly support us by donating to the Nigerian Canadian News through the button below.
